Marvel *has* done setups without a payoff before --- no Thunderbolt Ross or Hulkbuster armor come to mind. But I think there'd be a pretty major fanboy revolt if the studio promises Thanos and fails to deliver for 4-5 years. "ZOMG WHERE'S THANOS?!?!" will become the rallying cry for years to come.

I don't see why that'd be a problem. We've had two Iron Man movies teasing Tony as an Avenger before he finally became an Avenger. Why can't we have two Avengers movies teasing Thanos as a villain before he finally becomes a villain?

Nevermind that, from a story standpoint, it doesn't make a shred of sense to use Thanos in Avengers 2. The only place to go from there is DOWN.

I don't see why that'd be a problem. We've had two Iron Man movies teasing Tony as an Avenger before he finally became an Avenger. Why can't we have two Avengers movies teasing Thanos as a villain before he finally becomes a villain?

Nevermind that, from a story standpoint, it doesn't make a shred of sense to use Thanos in Avengers 2. The only place to go from there is DOWN.

Thanos should be free and clear.. there would be a threadbare, at best, connection to Fantatic Four.. I hope he shows up in a group movie rather than a solo movie.. but as far as actors.. might as well get somebody like the guy who played Davy Jones in Pirates.. willing to disappear beneath weird makeup.. and avoid any pandering retcon backstories where he was once a "humanoid" alien but was mutated to be purple and ugly (and perhaps wants the Tesseract to restore himself or whatever)..

Filming movies back to back would be the worst possible decision. it wearies cast and crew out. especially the crew. look at the movies shot back to back and look at the last parts of them. you can see how exhausted the crew was.

I agree!

__________________2017 films - best to worst
Wonder Woman, Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, Spider-Man, Logan, Kong, Fast & Furious, Cars, Alien, Beauty and the Beast, Power Rangers, Resident Evil, The Mummy, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ghost in the Shell, Underworld, Transformers

Filming movies back to back would be the worst possible decision. it wearies cast and crew out. especially the crew. look at the movies shot back to back and look at the last parts of them. you can see how exhausted the crew was. BTTF3 or LOTR:ROTK are good examples for not doing that. POTCMC is another great example.

you know they dont shoot them in order of how the scenes appear in the film right? your argument makes no sense

for exaple I'm pretty sure the ending of LOTR was shot at the same time as the very beginning

It's funny that for awhile I've been thinking of Ultron as the villian in A2 (with Kang as a second possibility) and Thanos for A3, then to come here and to see that almost everyone agrees with that; I guess it's the logical (read: awesome) way to go with the franchise

Thanos should be free and clear.. there would be a threadbare, at best, connection to Fantatic Four..

??? I don't get it. He has no connection to the Fantastic Four at all. Hell, he started off as an Iron Man villain before becoming a Captain Marvel villain, then an Adam Warlock villain, and then a Silver Surfer villain, before ultimately becoming a universal threat. I don't think he ever interacted with the Fantastic Four just by themselves, and even when they were around he had no interactions with them at all, other than the Thing hurling an insult or two over the crowd. They weren't even present in The Infinity Gauntlet series.

I agree. Thanos for the 3rd film.
Ultron could be good for the second movie but it'll seem like a rehash of the first. A villain with a massive army and they are all stopped when Ultron is defeated.
With Kang, people who don't read the comics, will think that Kang was Thanos during the post credit scene because of the helmet.

I don't see why Thanos needs to be saved for 3. I mean, he's a great villain, but he doesn't have to be the be-all end-all of Avengers villains. I think you could go from him to someone else if it's set up properly. There are lots of great villains to use and lots of different ways they can top Thanos given their versatility.

avengers 2 should either be kang trying to conquer the earth so it is not defense less when thanos comes or the masters of evil working for loki to redeem himself to thanos for failing the first time in avengers 1

Thanos DOES appear in The Avengers, midway through the end credits, and his appearance DOES set him up for an appearance in other Marvel films, most likely Thor 2 and The Avengers 2. The reason his appearance in The Avengers sets him up to likely appear in Thor 2 and The Avengers 2 is because of the way he is connected to the overall plot of The Avengers, being the one who provided Loki with the services of the Chitauri.

Thanos DOES appear in The Avengers, midway through the end credits, and his appearance DOES set him up for an appearance in other Marvel films, most likely Thor 2 and The Avengers 2. The reason his appearance in The Avengers sets him up to likely appear in Thor 2 and The Avengers 2 is because of the way he is connected to the overall plot of The Avengers, being the one who provided Loki with the services of the Chitauri.

dunno. They may want to have something else. I am still fond of the idea that Thanos will continuosly be teased.

dunno. They may want to have something else. I am still fond of the idea that Thanos will continuosly be teased.

The thing about this situation is that there was absolutely no reason to make Loki's attempted takeover of Earth backed by The Other's master - or reveal the identity of said master - in The Avengers - if that character were not going to play a major role in an imminent future story (i.e. one of the films coming out next year), especially when they could just as easily saved said character(s introduction for one of said other films.